WHY MEDITATION?<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Last column, I wrote about all the things I am want to talk about in this column, except for one very important thing.\u00a0 Why meditation?\u00a0 Why should you meditate?\u00a0 What are the benefits to meditation? \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Every day, we are called upon to play different roles in all aspects of our lives.\u00a0 We are overworked, over-stressed, pulled in ten different directions.\u00a0 Every second, we experience a constant barrage of conscious and subconscious thoughts.\u00a0 This is called \u201cmonkey mind\u201d, the constant chittering that occurs in our brains. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Meditation can calm these thoughts.\u00a0 It brings about clarity of thought, it calms your nerves, it helps to eliminate unwanted negative emotions, it relaxes your body, your mind, your heart.\u00a0 Meditation is a mastery of the mind.\u00a0 It feeds the soul\/spirit. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Take a moment and think about how you may have the same thoughts or encounter the same situation over and over.\u00a0 There is a lesson waiting to be learned.\u00a0 Meditation can help you learn that lesson, breaking old habits and patterns, releasing negativity from past hurts and old anger.\u00a0 It is another form of self-healing. \u00a0 Think of it as a way of training your mind, and like any other spiritual path, it is a journey; not a quick journey, not an easy journey, but a journey nevertheless. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
One of the nice things about meditation is that, truly, it can be done anywhere.\u00a0 I have done it in the car while sitting in the parking lot we call \u201crush-hour\u201d traffic.\u00a0 I have found myself searching out the nearest restroom when feeling stressed while out in public. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Of course, the best plan is to have a designated place in your home in which to meditate.\u00a0 You can have a small altar in place, or just some flowers, incense, and of course, a candle (a real candle with the power of a real flame and not one of those electric things, if possible). \u00a0 There is some wonderful meditation music out there; find some that speaks to your spirit.\u00a0 Most importantly,\u00a0 shut off your phone.\u00a0 Let this become your special place, a place of quiet, a place of serenity. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
So, now you know why you should meditate and you have a beautiful place in which to meditate.\u00a0 Now what?\u00a0 The following is an exercise that can get you started with a beautiful meditation practice. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Your candles are lit, incense wafting through the room.\u00a0 Sit yourself comfortably in easy pose, cross-legged on the floor.\u00a0 If you are unable to sit on the floor, a straight-backed chair works well.\u00a0 You want to be comfortable, but it is important that the spine be straight.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
You want to center yourself, to be in the moment, in that time, in that place. \u00a0 Bring your hands into prayer position at your chest, or you may simply rest your hands on your knees.\u00a0 Close your eyes and gently roll them up so that they are focused upon your third eye, that space between your eyebrows in the middle of your forehead. \u00a0 Begin to slowly and deeply inhale and exhale.\u00a0 Take your time, don\u2019t rush through it.\u00a0 Really feel each breath;\u00a0 on your breath. \u00a0 Breath = Prana = Life \u00a0 \u00a0 Now, with each inhale, bring into your body a sense of peace, a sense of calm.\u00a0 Let it infuse your entire being, beginning with the heart chakra and working outward.\u00a0 With each exhale, release any stress, tension or negativity you are holding within your body, even that of which you may not even be consciously aware.\u00a0 Allow yourself to let it go. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
You can continue this for as long as you are comfortable.\u00a0 If monkey-mind thoughts come calling, gently push them away and continue with the breath. \u00a0 When you are finished, take several deep breaths while stretching your arms up to the skies.<\/i><\/p>\n
This is the beginning of your sadhana, a daily spiritual meditation practice.\u00a0 I wish you joy and happiness in your meditation and look forward to us continuing this journey together.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHY MEDITATION? Last column, I wrote about all the things I am want to talk about in this column, except for one very important thing.\u00a0 Why meditation?\u00a0 Why should you meditate?\u00a0 What are the benefits to meditation? \u00a0 Every day, we are called upon to play different roles in all aspects of our lives.\u00a0 We are overworked, over-stressed, pulled in ten different directions.\u00a0 Every second, we experience a constant barrage of conscious and subconscious thoughts.\u00a0 This is called \u201cmonkey mind\u201d, the constant chittering that occurs in our brains. \u00a0 Meditation can calm these thoughts.\u00a0 It brings about clarity of thought, it calms your nerves, it helps to eliminate unwanted negative emotions, it relaxes your body, your mind, your heart.\u00a0 Meditation is a mastery of the mind.\u00a0 It feeds the soul\/spirit. \u00a0 Take a moment and think about how you may have the same thoughts or encounter the same situation over and over.\u00a0 There is a lesson waiting to be learned.\u00a0 Meditation can help you learn that lesson, breaking old habits and patterns, releasing negativity from past hurts and old anger.\u00a0 It is another form of self-healing. \u00a0 Think of it as a way of training your mind, and like any other spiritual path, it is a journey; not a quick journey, not an easy journey, but a journey nevertheless. \u00a0 One of the nice things about meditation is that, truly, it can be done anywhere.\u00a0 I have done it in the car while sitting in the parking lot we call \u201crush-hour\u201d traffic.\u00a0 I have found myself searching out the nearest restroom when feeling stressed while out in public. \u00a0 Of course, the best plan is to have a designated place in your home in which to meditate.\u00a0 You can have a small altar in place, or just some flowers, incense, and of course, a candle (a real candle with the power of a real flame and not one of those electric things, if possible). \u00a0 There is some wonderful meditation music out there; find some that speaks to your spirit.\u00a0 Most importantly,\u00a0 shut off your phone.\u00a0 Let this become your special place, a place of quiet, a place of serenity. \u00a0 So, now you know why you should meditate and you have a beautiful place in which to meditate.\u00a0 Now what?\u00a0 The following is an exercise that can get you started with a beautiful meditation practice. \u00a0 Your candles are lit, incense wafting through the room.\u00a0 Sit yourself comfortably in easy pose, cross-legged on the floor.\u00a0 If you are unable to sit on the floor, a straight-backed chair works well.\u00a0 You want to be comfortable, but it is important that the spine be straight.\u00a0 \u00a0 You want to center yourself, to be in the moment, in that time, in that place. \u00a0 Bring your hands into prayer position at your chest, or you may simply rest your hands on your knees.\u00a0 Close your eyes and gently roll them up so that they are focused upon your third eye, that space between your eyebrows in the middle of your forehead. \u00a0 Begin to slowly and deeply inhale and exhale.\u00a0 Take your time, don\u2019t rush through it.\u00a0 Really feel each breath;\u00a0 on your breath. \u00a0 Breath = Prana = Life \u00a0 \u00a0 Now, with each inhale, bring into your body a sense of peace, a sense of calm.\u00a0 Let it infuse your entire being, beginning with the heart chakra and working outward.\u00a0 With each exhale, release any stress, tension or negativity you are holding within your body, even that of which you may not even be consciously aware.\u00a0 Allow yourself to let it go. \u00a0 You can continue this for as long as you are comfortable.\u00a0 If monkey-mind thoughts come calling, gently push them away and continue with the breath. \u00a0 When you are finished, take several deep breaths while stretching your arms up to the skies. This is the beginning of your sadhana, a daily spiritual meditation practice.\u00a0 I wish you joy and happiness in your meditation and look forward to us continuing this journey together.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10311"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9964,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10311\/revisions\/9964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}